


Truth of the Heart

by sheron



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Confessions, Established Relationship, Fluff, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, Light Angst, M/M, Romance, Truth Serum, Wedding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:01:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22722850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sheron/pseuds/sheron
Summary: They were getting married, until Tony decided — under the influence of a truth serum — that it's a bad idea.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 60
Kudos: 341





	Truth of the Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Valentine's Day to everyone in this wonderful fandom! This started because I was trying to remix a story and quickly went its own way. A big thank you to ishipallthings for the beta!

_"I'll take care of you."_  
_"It's rotten work."_  
_"Not to me. Not if it's you."_  
  
— _Dialogue from "Orestes", by Euripides_  
  
  
  
Steve was in front of the mirror, straightening the black tux he would wear to the reception when he got the call from Rhodey. Rhodey was supposed to be with Tony, being his Best Man and all, so a smidgen of unease prickled at Steve's heart even before he answered the phone.

"Steve. Buddy. Pal," Rhodey started without a preamble. "You have got to talk to Tony right away."

Steve's eyebrows rose. "Is everything alright?"

"He is _freaking out_. I don't know if he's getting cold feet," — the unease inside Steve's heart sharpened into a knife —"at first he wouldn't talk to me at all, and _now_ he says he got dosed with truth serum and he won't be coming out of the workshop today. At all. Not even for the wedding reception."

Steve processed this with a minute blink at the opposing wall. Their lives were _weird_. 

He'd had nightmares like this, after they first got together and he was undeniably happy. The moment his brain had accepted that this was serious, that Tony was here with him for real, Steve had started waking up in cold sweat in the middle of the night after realistic-feeling dreams of being yanked out of time into another century, of being forced to wake up in a different world altogether, everyone being gone. His mind had conjured up scenarios of losing Tony and Tony losing him. It had been hard. Tony would spend more time with him on purpose, talk to him in the middle of the night, on very little sleep, just to let him get used to the new normal. Tony helped Steve relax into their relationship until he felt its undeniable truth down to his bones.

He was already walking out of his living quarters to find Tony by the time he answered Rhodey, "If he says so, then he's probably telling the truth?"

Tony had been deep into reverse engineering some of the tech they recovered earlier that week from an AIM base, specifically one of their chemistry labs. With Bruce taking himself out of the superhero game for the time being, Tony was the only one remotely qualified. When he had told Steve he would spend a bit of time "tinkering" in his workshop before the wedding reception, Steve had even thought it was kind of cute. This new problem was...unexpected to say the least. He had to keep a lid on his worry until he talked to Tony.

"I don't know," Rhodey admitted with a sigh, "He wouldn't actually talk to me directly. He had FRIDAY relay the message, but the gist was: he doesn't want to see anyone until it wears off."

"The reception is in half an hour!" Steve exclaimed, not at all like he'd been waiting for this day for possibly his entire life, except he has. Postponing it, even by a day, felt like a bad omen, like somehow all his hopes and dreams would be crushed into fine dust. It was unreasonable, sure, but he was _getting married_ , and he was allowed to be a little unnerved. He felt like this was the other shoe dropping, because everything had been too good to be true so far. Gathering his nerve, Steve kept his voice calm. "FRIDAY?"

The AI's voice sounded from somewhere above. "Colonel Rhodes is correct. Boss is in the workshop and he's called for a Blackout."

"FRIDAY, could you ask Tony for me, if he'd like to see me?" Steve said.

She was silent a moment. "Boss says no."

Steve's spirits sank. "I just want to know if he's alright." 

"Boss is otherwise unaffected," FRIDAY clarified.

"Okay," Steve sighed. "I guess you believe it is the truth serum, then, huh?"

"Boss is my creator," FRIDAY answered simply. A moment later, she added in a thoughtful tone, "However, my recent observation does suggest a chemical influence at work."

"I need to talk to Tony." Underneath the calm words his chest was squeezing painfully at the thought that under the effect of the truth serum, Tony didn't want to see him.

"Cap," Rhodey said with a sigh, "That man loves you. The biggest truth I know is that he wants to marry the shit out of you. And he won't talk to me, he's just fibbing me off. FRIDAY says he refuses to see anyone 'until it wears off', which will not be tonight, according to Tony. So of course I called you. You can talk him down and get him to the reception." He said this with steady certainty. Steve hoped he was right.

"I'm on it," Steve answered briskly, taking the elevator up. The workshop was under their penthouse floor in the Tower.

"Good luck."

"The wedding is on track until you hear otherwise," Steve told him firmly before he hung up. His voice came out a lot steadier than he felt on the inside, but he tried not to give in to doubts. They could work this out.

Still, it was hard not to turn it over in his head. If Tony did get doused with a truth serum, as Rhodey had related, then why wouldn't Steve be his first phone call? At this point in their relationship, they didn't keep secrets from one another. Getting there was a long and winding road, but now they were solid. Steve knew Tony loved him. Rhodey was right that Tony had always seemed to want to marry him. 

Tony had made the biggest production out of the proposal (lighting up the Empire State Building had been the least of it), and he'd been nervous to the point of shaking until Steve's equally affected and nervous yes. But after? They'd had a sort of post-engagement honeymoon period where everything was going so smoothly, and even their inevitable bickering disagreements had gotten softer and, well, loving somehow. They _enjoyed_ it.

Today — the day they signed the papers and got married for real — had been something they were both looking forward to. He thought.

At the blacked out door to the workshop, Steve paused, leaning his forehead against the glass for a second. Well, nothing for it. If his one-and-only had reservations about marrying him, it was better to lay them to rest now, rather than let them linger. Steve knocked lightly on the glass and called:

"Tony?"

He braced himself for no response, but after a few seconds, the blackout was lifting and the door was opening, and there Tony was. He looked just like he always did — that is to say, _amazing_ — but wearing his own black tux with a white dress shirt, and his hair was all messy, as if he'd been running his hands through it and maybe pulling at the strands a bit. All signs of anxious distress. "Steve?" Even his name came out sounding a bit lost. Rhodey wasn't kidding; Tony was in a state.

Steve tried to study Tony for any sign of being unwell. But no, there was nothing. "Thought you didn't want to see me," he burst out with his own fear.

"Nothing I want more," Tony blurted out and winced at how earnest it came out. "So. Uh. Rhodey told you?"

It was Steve's turn to frown, his heart speeding up nervously. "About the truth serum." He looked Tony over again. He looked...he looked great. Goddamn, Steve was lucky. He felt a dopey smile start on his face and steeled himself against the urge to take Tony in his arms and kiss him lots and lots. Tony found his dotting adoration alternatively hilarious or distracting, depending on his mood, so Steve knew to pick his moments, and this was definitely not one of them.

"Oh, good. Then you know we'll have to postpone the wedding." Tony talked and walked back into the workshop, leaving the door open for Steve to enter. 

"What?" Steve said as he cautiously followed his fiancé inside.

Tony swirled around and spread his hands like he had nothing more to say. "I can't go outside like this. The first person who asks me questions will get an earful. I'm talking _anything_."

"Is it really a truth serum?" Steve came closer. He took one of Tony's hands in his — Tony let him — and held it. It felt warm and normal to the touch, if a bit clammy. Tony looked awfully nervous, and something inside Steve eased slightly at the sight. Maybe it _was_ just nerves or cold feet, as they called it? 

"Yes! You have no idea how hard it is not to tell you things," Tony blurted out again and looked frustrated. He jerked his hand away from Steve. "Sorry," he mumbled, starting to turn away. "It's unfair." 

It really wasn't. 

"You know that there isn't anything you can't tell me, right?" Steve assured, hoping to set him at ease.

"There's this one thing," Tony answered truthfully. Steve had a strong feeling that he wouldn't have said that if he could have held it back. That was disturbing. 

Steve lifted both hands in the air in a motion of surrender. "I'm sorry you feel that way." He was proud of himself for keeping that light and straightforward, and not at all like it stung. Tony didn't owe him every single thought or worry in his head. Steve was there for him if he wanted to share them though. "But if it is the truth serum—"

"I've got it right here!" Tony cried, and walked over to the vials he had in a complicated looking equipment on the desk in the middle of the workshop. "I've been trying to synthesize an antidote for the past hour. It was those damned bee-keepers from AIM who got it developed. Accidentally dosed myself, like a pro." He shrugged an ironic shoulder. "It's supposed to wear off, but not fast enough!" Tony muttered.

"This is it?" Steve looked with a bit of skepticism at the greenish-tinged liquid in a vial standing held up by a pair of metallic prongs on the table next to them.

Tony nodded. "Don't you trust me?" A note of hurt snuck into his voice.

Steve looked at the vial, then he looked at Tony. "If you say it's a truth serum, it's a truth serum. But Tony, there's no need to postpone the wedding. The others will not pry—You know, you don't have to roll your eyes. If they do they'll regret it immediately. And you know— you _have_ to know, that I won't love you any less no matter what you say. Unless...you don't _want_ to get married?" he stumbled over the question, his whole chest in a vice that made it hard to draw breath.

"I do!" Tony cried out. He came closer to Steve and grabbed his hands, bringing them to his chest to clutch them there. "I really want to marry you!" he stressed.

"Then what?" Steve said with an easing in his heart. He was so sure that there was nothing that could shatter the bond between them if they _both_ wanted it to work. They belonged together. "Because I really want to marry you _today_." In a half hour preferably, he thought.

"Me too. Which means I'm biased and I really don't want to screw it up."

"You're not making any sense right now, you know that?" Steve offered gently. "And yet somehow I still love you." He grinned. "My lot in life."

"Oh, stop it." Tony sighed. "You should leave, you really should." He bit his lip, before saying, as if compelled, "I can't lie, and any moment I'll tell you— I'll tell you—" Tony seemed to struggle and then just went for it, squeezing his eyes shut, "That you shouldn't marry me." He opened his eyes and looked a bit sick.

Steve squeezed his hand and wanted to speak, but Tony was rushing ahead, talking very fast: "I'm a mess. Everyone knows that. And I— _I love you._ " His eyes locked with Steve's. "So much! I have no doubts of that. I'm sure. And there's nothing I'd like better than to be married to you. But then I think about what's right, what would be good for _you_...I think about making you happy, and—and—what's my love and what _I_ want compared to that? I don't know that I can be what you need. Most of the time I tell myself we'll be okay and hope like hell, but like this,"— he took a shaky breath — "I can't push it down. Damnit, Steve. You should have left me alone until it wears off." 

Tony looked down at their hands, and whispered, "I didn't want to tell you that I think you could be making a mistake marrying me."

Steve waited until he caught Tony's tormented eyes. "I'm glad you told me. And I still want to get married."

"It's getting harder not to tell you all the reasons we shouldn't," Tony half-whined. He squeezed Steve's hand desperately. "Please. I can be convincing."

"Okay," Steve said, thinking. "Okay." And then he knew. "I've got this."

He pulled his hands out of Tony's grip — Tony looked distraught about that, but his expression changed to surprise and curiosity when Steve simply strode towards the desk, and the truth serum in a vial there. It changed to shock when Steve grabbed the vial and drank it empty. 

"What the hell—! You—?" Tony couldn't even finish that thought. "I cannot believe you!"

"Working on that." Steve drew a shuddering breath. "We're on even ground now." He didn't know if the truth serum was working, or if he'd even be affected given the supersoldier serum running through his veins. But he wanted nothing less than to tell Tony the truth anyway. It was a compulsion that had been there before, buoyed by his emotions, and if the serum helped them along, that only made it easier.

"I love you," he offered his hand, palm out. When Tony first glanced at it, then somewhat hesitantly took it after looking between the offered hand and Steve's face, Steve smiled and carefully pulled him closer into an embrace. He kissed Tony's temple. "I do," Steve murmured into the side of his head. Tony nuzzled into his arms, and stayed there, hugging him back. "I'm prepared to walk out there and say the vows I've been planning to say just like this. Because I would mean all of them. In sickness. In health. For better or worse. Every single word!"

"I'd mean it too," Tony muttered. "And then I'd frequently remind you that I'm a workaholic, a control freak, who deals with anxiety by building robots on the nights I can't sleep, and the shine'll go off the whole married thing."

"Not for me, not if it's you."

"Oh my god." Tony leaned back to peer at him. "You didn't just use that line on me."

"I _did_." Steve smiled. "Did it work?"

Without words, Tony punched his shoulder, lightly. Then kissed him for good measure. 

"I'm under the effects of the truth serum, you know," Steve murmured blissfully into his mouth, as they kissed some more and Tony's hands came up to sink into his hair. "Can't lie."

When they separated, Tony looked really and truly happy, perhaps the happiest Steve had seen him since the proposal had gone off without a hitch. It made Steve feel like maybe he could get this right.

"Okay," Tony said, biting his lower lip so he wouldn't tear up. "I suppose you are an adult and have a right to make your own bad decisions. Might as well get married then."

"Yeah, twist my arm." Steve smiled. "C'mon, my best-decision-of-my-life. Let's not keep our friends waiting."

Tony leaned in to kiss him once more, tenderly. He stepped back and composed his own hair a bit, pulled down his tux, then reached up to straighten the bow-tie on Steve's neck, and to pet Steve's hair back into shape. His brilliant dark eyes shone brightly as he took this time to compose himself while fixing what he could. Overwhelmed with affection, Steve contained any urges to ruin his careful work with more kissing, but it was a close call.

"Shall we?" Satisfied, Tony slid a hand around Steve's elbow. "Any national secrets you feel like spilling to our guests?"

"Everyone in attendance has the same clearance as us," Steve pointed out reasonably. "Let's go. There's nowhere else I'd rather be."

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed the story! As always, I appreciate your comments.  
> [Tumblr](https://sheronwrites.tumblr.com/post/190830385569/truth-of-the-heart-relationships-steve) post.


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